Flying to US to get an iPhone X is cheaper than buying in Europe. It's also illegal

Yet HMRC's rules are clear: you must pay VAT on your 390-plus US purchases when you fly home, which makes those big savings a lot less appealing

• New iPhones: why is Apple's pricing the same in pounds and dollars?

The price of the new iPhone X is so high in Europe that it's led thousands to eye-up transatlantic flights to see if it's cheaper to fly across the pond to buy it. And it is, even with the cost of the flight, but there's a catch: you would become an international electronics smuggler in doing so.

In the UK, the 256GB iPhone X costs 1,149; across the Eurozone it's even more, a1,319 (1,186). In the US, meanwhile, it costs just $1,149 (869.33) - a saving of almost 280. With Iceland's WOWair offering return flights from London Gatwick to Newark for 278, it looks like you can pay for the cost of travel to New York with the savings on the iPhone.